Isaac has already come and gone for the Rev. Tim Smith of Gretna United Methodist Church, the Rev. Kaseem Short of Thomas United Methodist Church in Kenner and five other Louisianians. That's because the mission team of seven just got back to the United States after working in Haiti, experiencing 24 hours of constant rain on Saturday from what is now Hurricane Isaac.

First row, from left, are Sharon Holleman, Gretna United Methodist; Janice Batiste Franklin, Mount Zion United Methodist, New Iberia; Gilbert Sanchez, Gretna United Methodist; and an unidentified Haiti cook and translator. Second row: the Rev. Tim Smith, Gretna United Methodist Church; the Rev. Kaseem Short, Thomas United Methodist Church in Kenner; Bob Kimbro, Gretna United Methodist; and Bud Lee, First United Methodist, New Iberia.

The team arrived on Aug. 20 to work on a Methodist church building in the rural town of Latremblay. But a couple of days after they arrived, and it seemed more certain Isaac was heading toward Haiti, Smith said that a Haitian engineer who was working with the group urged them to move to a safer location.

The engineer feared that if Isaac struck the island, the group would have trouble getting to medical care. The engineer also feared for the group's safety if looting occurred because of the "extreme poverty'' in the area.

Despite those concerns, the mission team voted to stay.

"They really surprised me,'' Smith said of his team. "They wanted to stay so they could get more work done.''

The group had been working on digging a trench for a security wall around the church and sanding a finish coat on the interior walls.

"Everything has a wall'' in Haiti, Smith said. "It's a country of walls'' for security reasons.

A voodoo priest named Felix, front, helps with construction at a Methodist church in Haiti where a mission team from the New Orleans area was working recently, said the Rev. Tim Smith, pastor of Gretna United Methodist Church, who led the team. Smith said the priest lives near the church. In the back is Bob Kimbro of the Gretna church.

Although the team wanted to stay, Smith, in consultation with Tom Vincus of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, decided the team should move to a more secure location in Petionville where the United Methodist Church has a 10-acre compound.

The group left Latremblay on Thursday after working all day and travelled to Petionville. They didn't put their feet up, though -- the compound is being remodeled, so the team was put to work painting, tearing out cabinets, picking up debris and performing other jobs. They even worked in the rain on Saturday, when Isaac arrived, Smith said.

Winds got up to about 40 or 50 mph, starting early Saturday morning and ending early Sunday, he said.

Early Monday, Smith and team member Bob Kimbro, also of Gretna United Methodist, went to the airport to see about getting the team home. Like everyone else who had reservations, the team's had been wiped out and rescheduled because of the storm.

Team members were eager to get home before Isaac arrived in New Orleans, but their reservations had been pushed all the way back to Sept. 6. After waiting in lines for hours on Monday, Smith and Kimbro were able to get the group booked on an Air France flight for this Saturday, but they really wanted to come home sooner.

And then, "an angel came to our rescue and paid for a Learjet'' to fly the group to Miami. Smith said the benefactor wants to remain anonymous.

After landing in Miami, the team loaded into two rental cars and today, they are driving through Florida toward Pensacola, where they have the use of a home to wait it out until Hurricane Isaac leaves New Orleans, and they can return home.

Other team members are Sharon Holleman, Gretna United Methodist; Gilbert Sanchez, Gretna United Methodist; Bud Lee, First United Methodist, New Iberia; and Janice Batiste Franklin, Mount Zion United Methodist, New Iberia.

Sharon Holleman, of Gretna United Methodist, helps dig a ditch to support a security wall at a Methodist church in Haiti.

This was Smith's second mission trip to Haiti, his first as a leader. He's planning two more trips, one in the fall and one in April to continue helping the Methodist church and school in Latremblay as Haiti continues to recover from the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake there.

"The school is the most spartan of schools,'' he said. It has a concrete floor, a swing set with two swings for a student body of 180 children in preschool through seventh grade, and 1950s-era blackboards and desks.

"That's it,'' Smith said.

After his first trip there, Smith said, "I thought, 'We can do something here. If anything, we can improve learning conditions''' for the children.

During the upcoming fall trip, Smith wants to talk to the school director and really, the whole community, to see what the people's needs are.

"We want to improve their quality of life.''

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Melinda Morris can be reached at mmorris@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3782.